Sick Has Gone Super Infographic

There’s no doubt that medicine today is far more advanced than it has ever been, and that many ailments of modern day can be treated with certain medicines and antibiotics. However, despite all of these advances, there are still a considerable number of bacterias that are so adaptable that they are totally immune to standard medical treatments. These are known as superbugs.

What’s more, relying too much on drugs and antibiotics makes us even more susceptible to bacteria and these superbug viruses. Often, the best defense is to strengthen your immune system naturally.

At Del Immune, we have a keen interest in immune health so we put together this superbug infographic, titled “Sick Has Gone Super,” to take a closer look at some of the deadliest, drug-resistant superbug viruses and how we can possibly stop them by fortifying our own immunity.

If you like the infographic, please share it with others. You also can add the infographic on your website using the HTML code below. Please credit Del-Immune, the leader in immediate immune system support, as the source.

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Full Superbug Virus Infographic Text Transcription:

Title: Sick Has Gone Super

In 2000, biological invaders began to emerge that were resistant, or even immune, to typical treatment
• These bacteria and viruses had adapted and grown immune to most antibiotics, mutating into what have now been dubbed “superbugs
• According to the CDC, every year, at least 2 million people in the United States develop serious bacterial infections that are resistant to antibiotics
• These antibiotic-resistant bugs kill at least 23,000 people in the US every year

History
• Before antibiotics, the threat of infection was serious and urgent
• Until 1936, pneumonia was the #1 cause of death in the US
• Sometimes, amputation was the only cure for infections
• In the 1930s, sulfa drugs were introduced, followed by penicillin
• These treatments were a major breakthrough in medicine, making infections curable
• After antibiotics were introduced, doctors began to prescribe them for sore throats, sinus congestion, and coughs
• These things are not caused by bacteria, therefore antibiotics had no effect
• The bacteria that lives in bodies naturally began to develop resistance to the common antibiotics that were being prescribed
• In the 1980s, drugs called carbapenems were developed to fight gram-negative organisms (Klebsiella, Pseudomonas, Acinetobacter)
• Originally thought to me a drug of last resort because of their widespread effects, they eventually became commonly, leading to a decline in their effectiveness

The First Signs

• A team at NYU’s Tisch Hospital was confronted with the Klebsiella pneumoniae bacterium from an intensive-care patient
• Klebsiella is a bacteria that, due to its cellular structure, does not show up on a Gram’s stain test
• This test is able to detect the bacteria that cause strep throat and staph infection
• It inhabits humans and animals
• It can survive in water and on inanimate objects
• We carry it on our skin, in our noses, in our throats, and in our stool
• Often, caregivers are the source of infection among patients
• Most people do not fall ill because of Klebsiella
• Those with conditions such as liver disease or severe diabetes are more likely to get sick
• The bacterium can affect the lungs, the kidneys and blood vessels
• The NYU doctors realized that the bacterium was resisting all meaningful antibiotics
• It was only sensitive to colistin, a drug that had been developed and abandoned as treatment because it can cause severe damage to the kidneys

Super Gonorrhea

• In September 2013, antibiotic-resistant gonorrhea was named an urgent health crisis in the US
• Drug-resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae causes 246,000 cases of sexually transmitted disease gonorrhea in the US every year
• Gonorrhea is becoming more and more resistant to formerly successful treatments – tetracycline, cefixime, ceftriaxone and azithromycin
• Gonorrhea is especially dangerous because it is easily transmitted and can present with no symptoms
• There are approximately 300,000 reported cases in the US
• The CDC estimates that the actual number of cases is around 820,000
• Untreated, gonorrhea can cause pelvic inflammatory disease, ectopic pregnancy, severe eye infections in babies, infertility and stillbirth
• ((Visual: This link has a big picture of the drug-resistant gonorrhea: http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/health/super-gonorrhea-drug-resistant-bugs-deemed-urgent-threat-cdc-article-1.1458729))

MRSA – Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

• MRSA is a staph bacteria that causes an infection so aggressive that it can kill within days
• The first cases of MRSA in patients that were not already sick was at the University of Chicago Children’s Hospital
• Healthy children were coming into the hospital with severe infections that were a kind of resistant staph
• MRSA began suddenly causing pneumonia and serious bone and skin infections
• Children began dying because of a lack of effective antibiotics
• Doctors began using vancomycin, a drug reserved as a last resort, to treat MRSA
• Today, the use of vancomycin has increased drastically
• There have been cases of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA)
• If this strain spreads, it would lead to a major medical crisis

Maybe antibiotics aren’t totally to blame
• In 1968, a doctor traveled to Malaita in the Solomon Islands
• The natives of Malaita practiced cannibalism and head-hunting and were very isolated
• The doctor identified microbes within this tribe that were resistant to the antibiotics streptomycin and tetracycline, drugs that had never been clinically introduced to Malaita
• Later studies have found resistant bacteria in many other isolated indigenous human populations

Are there more superbugs in our future?

• We can’t stop bacteria from adapting to antibiotics
• However, cutting down on the use of antibiotics could help us greatly
• 130 million antibiotic prescriptions are given out each year
• Half of these are given to treat illnesses that the drugs have no effect on, like the common cold
• The US government has started a public education campaign
• They recommend lowering America’s use of antibiotics
• Advising pediatricians and parents to forego antibiotics for most childhood ear infections
• Most of these infections go away on their own
• The Infectious Diseases Society is lobbying Congress to pass the Strategies to Address Antimicrobial Resistance Act
• This would earmark funding for research on dangerous microbes
• Would set up clinical trials on how to limit infection and antibiotic resistance
• Doctors are proposing studies to determine the most effective use of antibiotics for common infections like bronchitis and sinusitis
• It’s important to know the optimum level of dosage and length of treatment